So there I was, on a greyhound bus that looked like it could’ve driven right out of the 1960’s, heading to what would be my new home. I never really wanted to leave Wisconsin but some things just can’t be helped. Besides, if I told anyone why I was leaving they wouldn’t have believed me anyways.
As the bus pulled into Eagle’s Peak I had to smirk to myself. We were in a valley, and I had seen no sign of eagles anywhere on the trip in. So it would appear the town of Eagles Peak has neither eagles nor peaks. “I’d love to meet whoever named this place” I mumbled under my breath as I walked off the bus and onto main street.
After uprooting myself from my previous home, I actually had a fair amount of cash on hand. So much so, that I was able to afford a small house just outside of the village. It wasn’t anything impressive, just something big enough that I couldn’t see my kitchen while laying in bed. The real estate agent I talked with about the house was ecstatic when he heard I did in fact intend to buy the house. I got the sense that I may have been the first person to buy a home here in a while. That was a little concerning as I knew how these older towns could be about “outsiders”. But as I stepped off the bus, there were no dirty looks shot my way, no locals scattering at the new presence in their midst. No, all that awaited me on the short walk from the bus stop to my newly acquired home was a sleepy little town with a strange name and decidedly average people.
The walk through town was nice. Main street was populated with a little mom and pop restaurant and bar right across from another more upscale restaurant and bar. Next to those was a pharmacy and some apartments that looked run down, even for a place like this. As I came up to my house,I passed something out of the ordinary. A larger white house that didn’t quite fit in with the style of the other houses, or at all really. It had an enclosed patio on its upper floor that overlooked the town. The stone foundation revealed very little of the massive basement it was sure to hold. Overall it looked like the kind of house you’d end up in if you had money, and it was pretty obvious that no one here could afford something like that. The rest of my quarter mile walk went without an issue, as I arrived at my new house.
I stepped into the house and I sighed, here I was starting a new life again. No one here knew me and I didn’t know them, square one. The house itself was alright, inside a little island sat in the middle of the kitchen from which the other four rooms opened off of. The kitchen being the central feature of the house was odd, But it fulfilled my requirements of not being able to see the kitchen from the bedroom. Even if it only did that by way of a door in between the two rooms.
That night I got the best sleep I’d gotten in a while. I finally didn’t have to worry about what was going to happen to me. I had a place to stay again that was far away from everything that had gone on in Wisconsin. All I had to worry about was getting a job to support myself here, and we’d take care of that eventually. For now one thing at a time, we need groceries tomorrow so that’s what I’ll get.
Waking up in morning was hard, you know how it is when its cold outside and the bed is just so warm. The whole thing was made even worse by the fact that all I had to do today was run out for groceries. Eventually I fought my way out of my bed and made it to the Save-A-Lot just outside town. I picked up the essentials, orange juice, bacon, and pop tarts (the breakfast of champions) as well as a few other foods.
While I was walking back to my house someone called out to me.
“Hey!, Hey you there!”
I spun around to see a goddess standing in front of me. She was tall with raven black hair and a face you couldn’t say no to. What stood out to me though, was her eyes. Her eyes were blue, so blue it looked impossible, electric. Despite… other features that may have attracted my gaze, My eyes were firmly locked on hers.
“Uh… I.. Uh, I mean, Hi there”
I stumbled through a response. The girl chuckled a bit at this and held out her hand.
“I’m Bianca”
“Keith, pleasure to meet you”
I said, taking her hand and still looking utterly starstruck.
“Well I hope its not to much to ask Keith, but I’m actually looking for someone to watch our house for the night.”
Something about the way Bianca asked made me completely forget how strange it was to ask a total stranger to watch your house. I mean she literally just walked up to me on the street and invited me into her home, what was up with this girl?
“I’m really not sure, I just ran into you and you’re just let….”
As the words crossed my lips Bianca flashed her eyes at me and I stopped cold.
“Actually sure I’ve got nothing else going on. Where exactly do you live?”
I heard the words but it was almost like I wasn’t speaking them. It’s not that I didn’t agree with them, but it felt like I was a passenger in my own body. A body that was now being led up to the door of that suspicious white house.
“Helloooo? Keith you home?”
Called Bianca with a concerned look on her face for some reason. That was enough to snap me out of my trance. “Oh my bad I totally spaced out there. What were you saying?”
“I was saying that my uncles have to go out of town tonight to pick some things up and I’m going with them. I’m just weird about leaving the house alone”
“So you saw some random stranger and thought “Oh he looks trustworthy, lets let him into my home”” I joked.
“Yeah pretty much”
said Bianca, laughing nervously. She brought one of my bags of groceries in with her through the door and set it down on the floor right next to my jaw. If the outside of the house was surprising, the inside was stunning. A perfectly polished wood floor met my eyes that lead up to a spiral staircase that could’ve come straight out of a mansion. The counter tops were all marble, and they had greek pillars lining the entrance way…. Greek pillars!
“And what exactly did you say your Uncles did for a living?” I asked regaining my faculties.
“Oh they uh… work for the government? I don’t know what branch”
“Anyways let me show you around a bit”
My raised eyebrow apparently didn’t clue Bianca in to the fact I wasn’t buying the government story. But right now I was in to deep and I couldn’t have turned away from the enthralling girl in front of me if my life depended on it.
As she lead me around through the house I asked Bianca, “Two uncles huh? Don’t take it the wrong way but I didn’t think that kind of thing would fly in a place like this.”
“What do you? Oh you think they’re gay!? No no nothing like that. I guess they aren’t technically really my uncles, they took me in when I’d lost my way, so to speak.”
She said this last part in a curt way that made it clear that conversation would end there. There was this look in her eyes too, she almost looked hurt. Like despite being built like a sculpture some cracks were showing remembering how she came to live with her uncles. I decided to leave it at that.
We walked around the house that I was coming dangerously close too calling a manor at that point as Bianca gave me the tour. The house had a huge living room just past the entryway with a TV that had to be 80 inches long. Across from that there was a kitchen that would’ve made Gordon Ramsey blush, and a Starway leading to the first of three floors. The second floor contained all 5 bedrooms, each with a full attached bathroom according to Bianca. The third floor was devoted to the enclosed patio I had seen earlier. As Bianca and I made our way back downstairs towards the kitchen, two people pushed out of the uncharacteristically normal looking basement door and straight passed me. They were seemingly finishing a conversation in thick German accents.
“We’ll get it tonight Stein, don’t you worry your little bald head about it”
“Yes sure I’m sure, but it never hurts to check the list twice. Make sure we have everything we need on the list”
I caught, as the two men walked past me like I didn’t even exist. I must’ve looked mildly offended because Bianca looked over and said.
“Don’t mind them, they’re always like that. Here, why don’t you just wait in the kitchen and I’ll fill them in”
Bianca, true to her word walked right up to the two men that I could only assume were her uncles. To my surprise they both actually stopped talking and turned to her. I’ll be honest, I tuned out most of that conversation as I tried to ground myself in reality again. Everything had happened like a whirlwind, and I wasn’t quite adjusted to this new house. I checked my watch as Bianca was making her way back, more time had passed than I thought, it was 6:30. Something about that felt wrong, I know I was just distracted by Bianca during the tour but it was 9 in the morning when I left my house, it couldn’t possibly be that late already. I found it really hard to believe I had lost that much time just because of her good looks. Besides wasn’t it still bright outside when I had walked into the kitchen?
“Oh Bianca brought home another one”
“FRANK!”
Bianca yelled at her uncle as the three strode into the kitchen.
“Don’t mind him, and here”
She said dangling $500 in front of me.
“Bianca I can’t take this! I’m just watching your house. Really, just consider it a favor.”
I insisted, astonished by her willingness to just part with that kind of cash on a whim.
“Exactly, your doing me a favor that you didn’t have to, that requires some kind of compensation. Just take it!”
She flashed her eyes at me again and I could swear they were glowing for a brief second. So, for the second time that day I lost control of myself. I simply reached out and grabbed the wad of cash, my earlier misgivings evaporating just like before.
“Good, well there’s not much I actually need you to do another than not let anyone in of course. Just feed the cat and stay out of the basement because….. well just stay out of there ok.”
“I… You have a cat? And what’s up with the basement? Bianca… Bianca wait!”
But my words feel on deaf ears as Bianca walked out the door leaving me with more questions about this strange house and its inhabitants.
It occurred to me after about ten minutes that I had no way of contacting Bianca. She hadn’t left me a phone number or anything like that, I was on my own. Not that I thought I was in any danger but what was with all the rush to leave? Why forbid me from entering the basement? It had to be somewhat safe down there right? Her uncles were down there doing… whatever it is they do. I hadn’t seen any evidence of a cat or any other animal anywhere in the house either. You know how when you own a pet there’s certain smells that come with it and there’s fur all over everything? There was none of that here, the house was spotless and all I smelled was the scent of fresh pine from the recently cleaned floor.
I walked around the house for a bit, just looking at the meticulously crafted wood work of the railings on the second floor. They were modeled to resemble a long dragon that spanned the entirety of the rail. Yet again I found myself wondering how exactly they afforded all this, Eagles Peak really didn’t seem like the kind of town people like this lived in. “They’re so strange”, I thought as I made my way into the living room. I mean, what kind of person walks up to a stranger on the street and asks them to come into their home! No-one that’s who, especially not people who have a house as nice as this. Also, what was that comment, Bianca brought home another one? Were they going to kill me, were they filming me, was this all some kind of messed up sex thing? I didn’t have any clue but I had a sinking feeling that I should search around for cameras or something.
My search didn’t really yield much out of the ordinary. I did find a few old books and movies that peaked my interest but it seemed like I was just being paranoid. After all, over trusting people do exist, even if this was pushing it. I turned my attention back to the small horde of movies and books I’d amassed in my search for hidden cameras. One of the books was written by one “J.W.”. It was about some guy delivering food to monsters including Count Dracula, who lived in the middle of Los Angles.
“Who comes up with this stuff!”
I chuckled, making a silent note to look up that author later. The movies were all horror related which was right up my alley. I sifted through the pile till I saw a movie I’d never seen before, “Let the Right One in”. After ten minutes of research into exactly what the movie was about I turned on the TV, sat back, and got comfortable. What else did I have to do for the next… however long those three were going to be gone for anyways.
About halfway through the movie, when Eli is forced to kill her father figure, I must’ve fallen asleep. I woke up to the sound of meows and the movie’s end credits. I remembered the cat Bianca had mentioned before.
“oh crap! you must be hungry little guy”
I said reaching down to pet the cat that sounded like it must’ve been right next to me. To my shock my hand only grabbed air. Then, as the meows continued I noticed that they weren’t quite right. They all sounded exactly the same. It was like someone or something was mimicking the noise. The mimicry was nearly perfect, but there was no variety. I stood up in the faint glow of the TV, “what the hell?! I could’ve sworn all these lights were on.” I thought, trying to remember turning any lights off as I walked through the now dark house. The meows seemed to being staying in one place as I stalked around, finally determining the source of the noise to be coming from… just wait for it…. The basement.
“Oh of course it would be wouldn’t it! I knew this whole thing was too good to be true!”
I yelled, circling the basement door. The thought to just cut and run crossed my mind but I shooed it away. I had given Bianca my word that I’d watch the house and I should stand by that No matter the feeling of dread I had about going anywhere near the basement to find this odd cat. “Fuck it. I guess we’re doing this then” I said, opening the door to the previously forbidden basement and looking for a light switch.
If I were a little brighter I would’ve checked the switches upstairs first. That way, I wouldn’t have had to experience my heart place itself firmly at me feet when I realized that the light switch down here wasn’t working. I sighed as I resorted to turning on my cellphone’s flashlight. The beam immediately fell upon a bag of cat food. As I stepped towards it, the meowing that had been constant until this point abruptly stopped. In its place I heard a crashing noise as something rushed past my feet faster than I could get the beast of my flashlight on it. Whatever it was rocketed up the stairs and right into the basement door. The door bounced off the wall as it slammed open and then shut, trapping me down here. I dropped my phone in shock and in the spinning beam of light I saw the silhouette of a… raccoon?
“What, where! Get away from me!”
I screamed, flailing wildly in the dark.
“Eh?! What’s the big idea!”
Said an annoyed voice in the dark with a thick New York accent.
“Who was that!? Is there someone else down here now?”
“Nope just me. Now where was that fuse?”
The thickly accented voice replied as something skittered around the basement.
I heard a snap, the sound of a light-stick being cracked judging by the faint glow in the distance. Metal creaked as a door was opened somewhere near the faint light of the light-stick and a tiny hand cast its shadow over me as it worked.
“That’s the ticket! Now stand back, flip the switch, annnnd Voila!”
Cried the voice, as sparks shot from the fusebox which was now clearly illuminated in their light. As the lights flickered then came back on I saw…. A raccoon. The raccoon was wearing a hard hat and goggles that it was trying to shake its way out of, light-stick in its hand.
“Are you… The cat?”
I said, absolutely dumbfounded.
“WHAT?! DO I LOOK LIKE A CAT YA DIP SHIT!”
“Sorry! Sorry I didn’t mean….”
“DON’T YA DARE COMPARE ME TO THOSE MANGY THINGS”
“So what exactly was making those noises then?”
In response the raccoon looked me dead in the eyes and made the same “meow” sound I had heard before only much, much louder . As the shock of the situation, and the fact I was currently being berated by a raccoon in a hard hat that was still complaining about my stupid question, caught up to me. I tried to stand and immediately collapsed, falling into unconsciousness with a deflated “Not this again”.